denise and joe join us now. and the author thomas jefferson pretty well-known, vice president, minister to france, secretary of state and eventually president. but the other 55, not so much. >> not so much. >> well who were they. if you were to look across the room, who was sitting in that hot summer room in philadelphia? >> the 55, i mean i would say out of the 56 men, the 5 we know are franklin, jefferson and hancock. i think these days other people would say i recognize john adams because of the mini series and sam adams because of a beer. that's just the way it is. the other men, i think if you look at them across their professions, some of them were lawyers, some were doctors. kreiger politicians. a large number made their income from agricultural work, whether that was a large plantation in the south or a small farm. >> these were men who enjoyed a role of prominence, that's how they ended up in the continental congress. some of them started out from humble beginnings. not the majority of them but there ar